Page 53 of The Billionaire's Special Relationship

“Nobody was my main squeeze, as you put it, but she was a friend.”

“With benefits?”

He hesitated.“Yes.”

“What happened two years ago? Why did y’all break up?”

“We weren’t a couple, first of all. I simply stopped coming to her dinner parties.”

“And staying over afterwards.”

“Correct.”

“Why?”

He exhaled. “Remember the first time I met you?”

“At Argyles? Sure I do. You gave me that big tip.”

“Do you remember why I gave you that big tip?”

“Because that heifer at your table was. . .” She couldn’t believe it. “That lady, that Jennifer, is that heifer?”

Stuart nodded.“Yes.”

“And you stopped sleeping with her because of how she treated me?”

He nodded.“Yes.”

“But why?”

“I felt she crossed the line. I felt as if everybody was dumping on you and you didn’t deserve any of it. I don’t know. It was an instinctual thing. She was a bitch from the day I met her. That wasn’t new. And I’ve seen her mistreat waitresses a thousand times. That wasn’t new either.”

“Then what was new?” Tabby didn’t understand.

“You were new,” said Stuart. “There was something about you from the moment I laid eyes on you that made me feel . . .”

“That made you feel what?”

“Responsible for you. Don’t ask me why, but that was how I felt.”

Tabby smiled. “You’re an old softy.”

“That’s a lie,” he said and they laughed.

But then Tabby was still concerned. That woman spoke of history and what sounded like it could be love to her. “Are you going to her dinner party?”

“I am, yes.”

Tabby’s heart dropped.

“And you are too,” headded.

Tabby was shocked. “Me? Why would I wanna go anywhere near that horrible woman?”

“It’s time for you to meet my friends, and for them to meet my lady.”

His lady. It still seemed surreal to Tabby. “But when you needed them, when you were being accused of such a heinous crime, they weren’t there. They wouldn’t even call to check on you. They aren’t your friends, Stuart.”